Visit Website • Change Subscription • Shop Online
Delivery Date: <$today$>

Dear <$firstname$>,

Welcome.

Mea culpa! I have been lost in the world of new websites, new products, new joint ventures and new ideas. I’m sorry to have been missing in action, and, believe me it was ACTION! Now, I’m back and I assure you that you will receive your copy of The Rhino Wrestler every month.

In this Issue:

• Improving Your Work Life - Where Seldom Is Heard a Discouraging Word
• Inspiring Words for Your Post-It™ Notes

More from Rhoberta...

As I have been engaged with companies and associations as a speaker and seminar presenter, I have been reminded that right now every second of an employee’s time is valuable with little expendable for much-needed training. MY ANSWER: Eight teleseminars presented on the telephone to get your people…or you…the skills, insights & strategies that making working with other people easier. Each Teleseminar is three hours in length presented one hour each consecutive week. Register online. Receive your materials by email. Pick up the phone at the right moment and VOILA! Instantly available skill upgrades with no downtime, commuting or absence from your desk! HAVE A LOOK NOW.

Today’s article sounds like it is in celebration of cowboys and cowgirls. Wouldn’t you like to work at home on the range with seldom a discouraging word? Sounds good to me, so, enjoy reading it.

And here's another opportunity for growing your business...
SPIRITUAL BUSINESS MATTERS “THINK TANK” CHALLENGE GROUP, 2006!

Why struggle alone to solve rising business challenges when you know that six heads are better than one? Collaboration is the key to success, and success IS PLANNED. As a member of Spiritual Business Matters, you can take advantage of our six week program where we combine over sixty years of combined executive business expertise, experience and enthusiasm to brainstorm powerful solutions to your current business challenges.

Laurel von Pander and Dr. Rhoberta Shaler, the Founders of Spiritual Business Matters, will lead this powerful forum to get you the broadest and best options, tips, action plans and solutions for meeting your most pressing challenges. This is a committed six week teleseminar program, (one hour each week) of focused “Think Tank” solutions based interactive focus. Prepare to be amazed and inspired!

Cost: An unbelievable $129 US for the entire six weeks!

Hurry, we have a very limited number of spaces available–so email me today if you're interested and I'll reserve your spot.

It’s good to be back with you. Would you do me a favor and invite your colleagues to get their own copy of The Rhino Wrestler? They can do that at www.OptimizeInstitute.com right now.

Optimize Your Day!

Rhoberta

Rhoberta Shaler, PhD
CEO & President, Optimize! Institute™
Escondido, CA
www.OptimizeInstitute.com

P.S. If you are an HR manager or Admin Professional, be sure to check out those teleseminars I mentioned at www.OptimizeInstitute.com/teleseminars/calendar.htm

INSPIRING WORDS FOR YOUR POST-IT™ NOTES

“You have it easily in your power to increase the sum total of this world's happiness now. How? By giving a few words of sincere appreciation to someone who is lonely or discouraged. Perhaps you will forget tomorrow the kind words you say today, but the recipient may cherish them over a lifetime.”
-- Dale Carnegie

“I consider my ability to arouse enthusiasm among men the greatest asset I possess. The way to develop the best that is in a man is by appreciation and encouragement.”
-- Charles M. Schwab

IMPROVING YOUR WORKLIFE:

“WHERE SELDOM IS HEARD A DISCOURAGING WORD, AND…”
© Rhoberta Shaler, PhD
www.OptimizeInstitute.com

Are you at home on the range? Do you seldom hear a discouraging word at work? That would be the ideal.

Because I did not just crawl out from under a rock, I know that workplaces can be filled with frustration, and frustration breeds discontent. It’s no surprise a recent survey found that, aside from more money or higher position, most folks leave their jobs because of expressed or unexpressed interpersonal conflict. Maybe you have considered moving your little doggie along to a new range for that very reason.

Conflict management, sometimes optimistically called ‘conflict resolution’, is not at the top of most folks skills set. There is much that can be learned about the five necessary approaches to conflict and the time for each. I write much about that in my recent book, Wrestling Rhinos: Conquering Conflict in the Wilds of Work, now in its 2nd edition (www.OptimizeInstitute.com). There are things we can do to reduce the likelihood of conflict arising on the cattle drive.

FOCUS ON THE POSITIVE

Do a quick self-check:
• Do I look for faults first?
• Am I more likely to criticize than praise?
• Do I move things forward or backward?
• Where is my focus: what’s right or what’s wrong?

If there is even a tiny tendency in you to look for what’s not working first, you can make a huge shift in your own daily joy by turning that around. Look for what’s working. Notice what you like. Focus on contributions. And, comment only on these things for the next week. You’ll feel better.

Ok, you’re thinking that your job is to make things work and, therefore, you have to notice what isn’t working. I’m not suggesting you become blind or brain-dead to things that could be improved. You will simply save your entire organization time, energy and likely, money, by turning your focus to what IS working.

If you do not want to believe it can be that simple, learn about the process of appreciative inquiry. David Cooperrider, author the book, Appreciative Inquiry, wrote

“Appreciative enquiry is the cooperative search for the best in people, their organizations, and the world around them. It involves systematic discovery of what gives a system 'life' when it is most effective and capable in economic, ecological and human terms.”

Are you involved in finding the best in people? Just making that decision can add huge impact to your day. Even the look on your face will change.

EXPRESS YOUR APPRECIATION

It’s not enough to change your focus. You must let people know the good things that you see. You do not need to gush or become all touchy-feely. Liberal sprinklings of these types of phrases will do:

Thank you.
I appreciated your input on _________.
I like your approach to ___________.
Thanks for speaking up on that.
When you did ________, it made my job/life/decision easier.
… and, of course, a genuine compliment seldom goes amiss.

SAVE ENERGY

Simple facts:

• When your shoulders are not at your earlobes, you save valuable energy.
• When you smile rather than frown, you use fewer muscles.
• When you think or say something positive, you use less energy understanding and being understood. The brain is said to use 48% less energy to understand a positive statement than a negative one.
• When you stay in the current moment, you use your energy more wisely than dwelling on the past or daydreaming about the future.

So, stay positive, express your appreciate, save energy and be happier at work. It’s simple. Give it a try.

© Rhoberta Shaler, PhD
--------------------------------

Rhoberta Shaler, PhD, is a ‘people skills’ expert—a noted speaker, author, executive coach and founder of the Optimize! Institute in Escondido, CA. Dr. Shaler works with organizations that know their people are their top resource and with leaders who know that building relationships is a top priority. She is the author of What You Pay Attention to Expands & ‘Wrestling Rhinos: Conquering Conflict in the Wilds of Work as well as more than a dozen books and audio programs published in nine languages. Subscribe to her ezine, The Rhino Wrestler, at www.OptimizeInstitute.com

This article may be reprinted or republished if the complete copyright/resource information is kept intact. For a formatted version for print, email info@optimizeinstitute.com